A 22-Year-Old Survivor's List

So, I was feeling a bit down about some things going on in my life right now and I began to think, I have survived so much worse. And then I made the list out in my head:

• I survived pulling a pot of coffee over on my arm, leaving a large scar running down my left arm...
• I survived growing up without a mother...
• I survived having my car stolen...
• I survived two suicide attempts...
• I survived a week in a mental institution...
• I survived watching my father die of cancer...
• I survived moving to a new state where I knew less than a handful of people...
• I survived being arrested... (Note: Many people know bits of this story, but no one knows the entire story. And, no one knows my feelings on this issue. One day when I analyze it all completely I will share my feelings...)

So, looking back on it, I guess my current troubles are really nothing. I've survived those things and I'll survive many more things. The list will get longer and I will become stronger for it.

And I'll end this one with a quote from Dag Hammerskjold which I think is appropriate: "We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny, but what we put into it is ours."